The invention relates generally to apparatus for storing perishables such as meat.
More particularly, the invention relates to apparatus for storing perishables such as meat under pressure.
A more specific aspect of the invention relates to the storage of perishables such as meat under pressure employing a vessel which is provided with a cover. The perishables may be removed from the vessel as required.
Meat is conventionally stored by suspending it in a cooling chamber. However, a weight loss occurs within a relatively short period due to drying of the meat. The outer part of the meat, which is particularly susceptible to drying out, soon becomes inedible and must be removed before the meat is sold. This results in substantial losses.
It has therefore become known to pack meat in synthetic resin or vacuum packages which are then evacuated to obtain a specified vacuum. This, however, involves substantial amounts of labor. Moreover, the materials which are constantly required to make the packages increase costs as does the apparatus required to seal the packages. In addition, there is the problem of deciding how much meat should be included in each package since the amount of meat to be consumed in the future is not known at the time of packaging.
It is further known to store meat in a vessel under pressure. In order to place the meat under pressure, a number of vessels are placed one on top of the other. The vessels have shaped edges which serve to connect the vessels with one another and also serve to limit the height to which the respective vessels can be filled.
In comparison to vacuum packages, for example, the storage of meat in such vessels is substantially improved as regards both cost and maximum possible storage time. However, it has been found in practice that difficulties arise when some of the meat is to be removed from the vessels. The reason is that the required pressure on the meat is achieved only when the vessels are filled to a specific height. After one or more pieces of meat have been removed from a vessel, the required pressure in the vessel can no longer be achieved and it is necessary to replace the pieces of meat which have been removed. Substitution of fresh meat for meat which has been removed cannot be performed satisfactorily in practice since it is then no longer possible to achieve the requisite storage time for the entire meat supply.
The effect to be achieved by pressurization, namely good quality over prolonged storage periods, can only be achieved by filling the vessels precisely to a specified level and maintaining this level constant for the entire storage period. Accordingly, the storage of meat in pressurized vessels is to be employed in large businesses where the entire contents of a vessel can be disposed of at one time. While it is possible to extend the use of pressurized vessels to smaller businesses by employing smaller vessels, this leads to certain difficulties. Furthermore, the cost advantage over vacuum packaging would be reduced, especially as regards the cost of material. In addition, a reduced vessel size would still not fulfill the practical requirements of a butcher shop of average size.